Denver (CL 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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before, hence the lack of any return fire. The ahernoon of D Day at Ulithi wound up with a picnic and swimming party on the Vieach But Pacific Fleet cruisers just don ' t have things that nice for long. The DcMiir ' . ' i divi- sion joined the Seventh Fleet and by the middle of October was in the thickest part ot the Philippine liberation campaign. Dur- ing a typhoon she fired a bombardment on Suluan Island in support of a Ranger Unit which secured the island, and thus claims to have fired the first big gun salvo in that campaign at 0801 on October 17, 1944. The main landings on the beaches of Leyte were complicated by the still threatening typhoon, but on the 19th the Dtinvr ' .s guns were again blazing away at targets in the vicinity of Dulag town, and on the 20th the landing occurred without opposition. After the landings, the bombardment group lay off the beachhead during daylight hours anc4 accommodated the Army spotters by placing call fire as the troops moved inland During the pre-assault bombardment and the call-fire which followed, Dciiicr was credited with damage and destruction of Japanese supply dumps, trucks, pillboxes, and other installations. At night the bom- bardment group patrolled the southern part of Leyte Gulf, ready to meet any surface threat from Surigao Straits, either east or south. The Diinvr was present when this threat materialized late on October 24, 1944. Submarine and plane sightings throughout the 23rd and 24th showed the enemy to be concentrating in the Mindoro area for what could only mean an attempt to de stroy our fleet units protecting Leyte Gulf and thus cut off and annihilate our land forces on Leyte and nearby islands Soon after 0100 on the 25th contacts from PT boats stationed at the southern entrance re- porteci sightings of several ships entering the straits from the southwest between Camiguan and Bohol Islands. The story writ- ten the night of the 24th and the day of the 25th IS now well known, and has won its place as one of the actions that broke the back of Japanese naval strength. It is the Story of the Battle of Surigao Strait where the Japs met the ghost battleships of Pearl Harbor. Due to the great popular appeal of these old Pearl Harbor BB ' s and in rendering the honors certainly due them, it IS felt that the story of the splendid job done and tremendous fire put out by the cruisers has never been fully told. The Jap forces were believed to have been composed ol two battleships, four cruisers, and ten destroyers. Tactically, the situation could hardly have been more unfavorable for the enemy. He ran a gauntlet of our PT boats and destroyers only to arrive at the northern end to find on his first contact that his T had been crossed by the superior force under Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. The Diiu ' tr formed part of the left flank forces and it can be seen from her action that the cruisers were along for more than the ride. Almost from the moment of com- mencing fire at 0350 observers on the Diiircr saw enemy ships in flames. Her gunners opened on target and immediately went to rapid salvo fire, and the first target was reported on fire in one minute. By 0400 her main hatterv target lay dead in the water and burning fiercely; it had without doubt been hit by many other of our ships, too. The five-inch battery then opened on another 17j.

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Trained to Port 40 ' s in Action 16

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Wake Carrol in tfie Snow Mason — Heaving Line Bilge Pump Convoy 40— No. 6 4l8